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Wiseman's Ferry could play key role Posted: Friday June 07, 2002 8:41 AMNEW YORK (AP) -- For a 20-1 shot, Wiseman's Ferry is regarded as a key factor in whether War Emblem can win Saturday's Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown champion in 24 years. Wiseman's Ferry and Proud Citizen have enough speed to challenge front-running War Emblem, and those two colts will start inside the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. "You really want to have tactical speed to not be too far out of it," said D. Wayne Lukas, who trains Proud Citizen, second in the Derby and third in the Preakness. "We're going to take the race to War Emblem." Niall O'Callaghan isn't talking as boldly. Yet the trainer of Wiseman's Ferry, who led wire-to-wire to win the Lone Star Derby last month, makes it clear he didn't enter the Belmont to play spoiler. "I'm running to win," O'Callaghan said Thursday. He plans to send Chavez out of the paddock Saturday without any instructions, having given the jockey what he called wrong advice in Wiseman's Ferry's last two races. The colt won both, anyway. "I'm confident the horse will get 1 1/2 miles," he said. "He's not a typical speedster who drags you all the way. He relaxes. Relaxing is the key when you're going a mile-and-a-half." O'Callaghan said he wouldn't be surprised if War Emblem isn't on the lead under jockey Victor Espinoza. "He wasn't in front in the Preakness. He obviously proved that there's another dimension to him," he said. "There might be another dimension to him this time because once you teach a horse how to rate, they tend to be more kind the next time." Espinoza rated, or deliberately kept War Emblem off the pace, in the Preakness. At the same time, O"Callaghan doesn't believe Wiseman's Ferry would be bothered seeing another horse in front of him. "You want to be going quick enough where it takes everybody else off their game, like he did in Dallas," he said. "But if somebody else is going quicker, then that helps you too because they're actually bringing you along and they're still on the chase." Named for a town on a river north of Sydney, Australia, Wiseman's Ferry raced in Europe as a 2-year-old against top horses like Johannesburg. O'Callaghan bought the colt from fellow Irishman and trainer Aidan O'Brien on behalf of Morton Fink and his partners. Wiseman's Ferry finished third in his U.S. debut at Gulfstream; won against Belmont rival Sarava on a sloppy Keeneland track; then won the Lone Star Derby on May 11. "He's going to be a thorn in our side," said Bob Baffert, who trains even-money favorite War Emblem. "He's impressive. He's fast and he keeps going." Wiseman's Ferry tested Belmont's deep, sandy track Thursday, jogging 1 1/2 miles before returning to his stall covered in wood shavings. He passed the time munching hay torn from a bale hung outside. "He seemed to like the track just fine," O'Callaghan said. Like his colt, O'Callaghan is coming into the Belmont on a roll. The 39-year-old, known for his perpetual smile and sense of humor, won three major stakes at as many tracks during an eight-day stretch in May. Wiseman's Ferry started the most successful span of O'Callaghan's 12-year training career by winning the $500,000 Lone Star Derby in Dallas. Chamrousse won the $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico the day before the Preakness. Then Hail the Chief won the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup in Chicago. What O'Callaghan did in those eight days is something the likes of Baffert, Bobby Frankel and Lukas do all the time. "Most people are in it for the hunt of the win," he said. "It drives you to want to have it more." Of course, such big-time victories came at a price. "It cost me an awful lot in terms of my friends drinking on my tabs. They won't pay anymore," O'Callaghan said, laughing. Does he suddenly have a lot more friends hanging around? "They're mostly the same derelicts," he joked. |
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